Bracket Briefing: Is Mountain West better than Pac-12?

Dec. 4, 2012
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San Diego State guard Jamaal Franklin (21) jumps up for a shot as he is defended by UCLA guard Kyle Anderson (5) during the second half of the Aztecs' 78-69 win against the Bruins. / Kelvin Kuo, USA TODAY Sports

by Scott M Gleeson, USA TODAY Sports

by Scott M Gleeson, USA TODAY Sports

Welcome to the fourth edition of Bracket Briefing, our attempt to ensure that readers won't have to wait until March to know who C.J. McCollum is.

Team of the Week: No. 15 San Diego State (6-1)

The best college basketball team in California is not wearing baby blue and yellow anymore. It's not navy and yellow, either. It's not even red and yellow.

Try red and black.

The story lines developed from San Diego State's 78-69 win against UCLA on Saturday were that the Bruins were not as good as projected, freshman sensation Shabazz Muhammad is still on a learning curve, and coach Ben Howland is on the hot seat. But the forgotten story line is that Steve Fisher's Aztecs are now not only the best team in the Mountain West, but they're officially the best team in California.

Beating the team with 11 national championships hanging in the rafters was only confirmation. San Diego State (red and black) knocked off UCLA, who finally agreed to play SDSU, after edging USC (red and yellow) on the road this season and beating other premier teams California (navy and yellow) and Long Beach State (black and yellow) last season. The Aztecs have won a staggering 26 consecutive games against in-state opponents.

Where San Diego State would be seeded in the NCAAs if the season ended today: No. 4.

A 62-49 loss to Syracuse to open the season will be forgiven by the committee the more this team wins.

Top-10 team that San Diego State would give fits to: Kansas

The Jayhawks look good on their home court beating up on weaker opponents, but on a neutral court, the Aztecs have the right weapons, including underrated player of the year candidate Jamaal Franklin (20 ppg, 10.7 rpg), to get a win.

Top-10 team that San Diego State would struggle against: Syracuse

Yes, it'd happen again. We saw what happened the first time against Jim Boeheim's 2-3 zone: 27% shooting, including 1-for-18 from three-point range. With the game played outside on a ship and wind blowing, the shooting conditions weren't ideal. But regardless of where the game is played, the size/athleticism mixture hurts the Aztecs, and it was something UCLA failed to capitalize on.

Changing of the West Coast guard:

San Diego State's win against then-No. 24 UCLA wasn't the only Mountain West win against a Pac-12 opponent over the weekend. Wyoming upset then-No. 19 Colorado to make a statement about a mid-major league that doesn't look so mid-majory anymore.

No. 8 Arizona is now the only Pac-12 team in the top 25 with UCLA and Colorado falling out of the rankings, while No. 15 San Diego State, No. 18 UNLV and No. 20 New Mexico all represent the Mountain West's top 25 teams. Not to mention Colorado State (41) and Wyoming (9) are getting votes, too. Overall, it's been an emphatic start for the Mountain West. Boise State knocked off No. 13 last week, and Air Force is off to a 6-2 start.

Just a good year for a power mid-major conference and a down year for a subpar BCS conference, right? Wrong. The Pac-12 sent two teams to the NCAA tournament last season. The Mountain West sent four. It was the same math in 2010, a vast change from 2008 and 2009 when the Pac-12 shipped six teams to the Dance.

Has the Mountain West moved past the Pac-12 in conference hierarchy? You bet. Not necessarily from a revenue standpoint, but when it comes down to which teams are better collectively and pitted up against each other, it's a no-brainer this year.

Mid-Major Top 10:

Below please find a breakdown of our weekly Mid-Major Top 10. *MWC, A-10 and C-USA are not included; *Ratings Percentage Index, Strength of Schedule, Win/Loss record and last season's resume are all factors in rankings.

Mid-Major Player of the Week goes to‚?¶

Karvel Anderson, Robert Morris: While everyone wants to praise Jack Taylor for scoring 138 points, let's not forget the dude launched up 108 shots. In D-I hoops, the best individual performance came in Moon Township, Pa., when Robert Morris' Karvel Anderson had the game of his life in his team's 84-76 upset win over previously unbeaten Ohio. He shot a perfect 10-for-10 from the field, including 8-for-8 from three-point range. He finished with 28 points and also was the only RM player not to commit a foul. Someone get this kid a game of horse with Taylor.

What you probably missed:

Buzzer-beaters are so fun, and they're basically the only way to get a mid-major team like South Dakota State on SportsCenter. Plus, after starting the season with a loss off a buzzer-beater in a 70-67 loss to Alabama, it's nice to have luck go your way if you're SDS.

North Dakota wasn't expected to challenge South Dakota State, led by do-everything point guard Nate Wolters. Actually, North Dakota State isn't expected to challenge anyone. So with the Jackrabbits trailing 70-68 in the final seconds of last Wednesday's game and Wolters swarmed by the ND defense, Brayden Carlson took a Wolters handoff and put on his Scottie Pippen hat with a jump pass to Chad White, who put on his Steve Kerr hat and drained a never-in-his-life-will-he-ever-make-that-again contested three-pointer. You'd think White's heroics were lucky, but he also hit a trey to give SDS a 78-77 win against Marshall earlier this season. This buzzer-beater gave SDS a 71-70 victory, sending cheerleaders into Bring It On pandemonium and a North Dakota player (No. 11) into a state of heartbreak worse than when Allie left Noah in The Notebook. It wasn't over! Yes, No. 11, it is.

Sunday was a tough day for the Saint Louis basketball program but the team, led by coach Jim Crews, handled it with poise and dignity. The Billikens beat a scrappy Valparaiso team at home 62-49 less than 24 hours after former coach Rick Majerus passed away. It made a nice matchup between two premier mid-major squads seem so much less important.

"He's been a father figure to many of these young guys. It hurts," Crews said.

"Coach dedicated his life to basketball," said Dwayne Evans after a 17-point performance. "I can't think of a better tribute than to get a win."

What's our main man C.J. McCollum doing when he's not writing press releases in Lehigh's Athletics' office as a journalism intern? Oh, just scoring points better than anyone in the country. McCollum is averaging a nation's best 25.9 points a game through eight games, as Lehigh (6-2) has bounced back after two losses to BCS opponents. McCollum has scored 30 points three times so far. See, you don't have to lead your team to a colossal upset against Duke in the NCAA tournament to get noticed. You just have to lead the country in scoring.

Team that's making noise:

There are currently only four undefeated mid-majors (excluding A-10, Mountain West and Conference USA): Wichita State (8-0), Gonzaga (8-0), Stephen F. Austin (5-0), and Eastern Kentucky (7-0).

Eastern Kentucky, off to its best start in 66 years, might be the biggest surprise of the bunch. The Ohio Valley squad shoots the ball over 50% as a team and had outscored its opponents and has turned tons of points into turnovers.

What you need to know:

Wyoming received nine votes in this week's USA TODAY Sports Coaches poll after a stunning win over Colorado on 76-69. The win was big, yes, but coach Larry Shyatt has been overcoming obstacles before that. Bizarre obstacles. The Mountain West squad has two players on its roster who never picked up a basketball before college. Yes, you read that right. Two guys who never played high school ball were picked up by Shyatt for "potential" purposes. Here's more via The Coloradoan.

Loss that will help in March:

If there's such a thing as a good loss, that's what No. 6 Illinois State's loss at Louisville was, surely. The Redbirds led much of the game and lost on what looked to be a no-call on a Tyler Brown three-pointer in the closing seconds. (Via The Daily Vidette).

"They outplayed us," Louisville coach Rick Pitino said after the game. "We played really hard (but) they had answers to everything that we put at them."

Not a bad soundbite if the Redbirds are in the at-large bid bubble, which is likely considering the NCAA committee's continued lack of respect for the Valley and the fact that winning the league means beating No. 13 Creighton and a soon-to-be-ranked Wichita State team.

Scores that matter:

-Florida State started the season ranked then lost to South Alabama in the team's opener. Ouch. They had another Ouch moment on Sunday, falling to Mercer 61-56 at home. Mercer's looking good in the Atlantic Sun, picking up its first win over FSU since 1954. Tough lead-in for the Seminoles game against No. 5 Florida on Wednesday.

-Akron took care of business at home against a top-notch visitor, beating Middle-Tennessee State 82-77 in overtime on Sunday in a Mid-American and Sun Belt clash. Jake Kretzer's eight points (two treys) all came in OT.

-Last season's Sweet Sixteen darling Ohio is a safe bet to circle on your NCAA tournament bracket. If they get to the Dance, though. Remember, Cinderella has to make the ball. Saturday's glaring 84-76 loss to Robert Morris could be the deciding stain on the Bobcats' resume if they fail to win the Mid-American tournament because their non-conference schedule massively fails the eye test. But hopefully the NCAA committee is nice, considering Robert Morris' hot shooting night.

-Colorado had a rough week, falling out of the rankings after a 76-69 loss to Wyoming. But before that, it was almost an upset by Texas Southern. Colorado survived in two overtimes for an 85-80 win last Tuesday but wasn't so lucky the next time.

-Boise State pulled off the biggest upset in program history on Wednesday night with an 83-70 win over then-No. 11 Creighton. Derrick Marks had 28 of his career-high 35 points in the second half. It's even more impressive considering the game was played in front of CU's 17,000+ fans in Omaha. Creighton hadn't lost a regular-season November home game since 1989.

Mid-Major game to watch this week:

Wyoming at Illinois State (Tuesday, 8:05 p.m. ET). Before the season, this game didn't seem too enticing, and to the untrained eye (70% of basketball fans) it's not that enticing either. But this is as good of a mid-major showdown as we're going to see. Wyoming is undefeated at 8-0 and one of the season's early surprises out of the Mountain West. Their road test comes against Missouri Valley contender Illinois State, fresh off a three-point loss to No. 6 Louisville and an overtime loss to Northwestern. This game is the equivalent of a BracketBuster game and the reason the Mountain West-Missouri Valley Challenge was launched four years ago-to give potential bubble teams the RPI win they need to get into the NCAAs. A road win against a top mid-major is exactly what Wyoming needs. And a win against a top mid-major from a loaded conference is exactly what Illinois State needs. The Redbirds might have Cinderella potential, but their early-season road win over supposed-to-be good Drexel isn't looking so good. An almost win against Louisville will be forgotten without a signature non-conference win. This essentially could make or break ISU's season.

About this post: While John Calipari and his freshmen bunch will dominate headlines on our site all season, we know Cinderellas often go unnoticed before they can become Big Dance darlings. Our comprehensive report of superlatives ranks the best little guys from the non-BCS conferences and includes exclusive perspectives from players and coaches.